In this series we’ll take a fresh look at resources and how they are used. We’ll go beyond natural resources like air and water to look at how efficiency in raw materials can boost the bottom line and help the environment. We’ll also examine the circular economy and design for reuse — with an eye toward honoring those resources we do have.

While changes at home can’t solve the many environmental crises we face today, they can sure help. Through this series, we’ll explore how initiatives like curbside compost pick-up, rebates on compost bins, and efficient appliances can help families reduce their impact without breaking the bank.

Despite decades -- centuries even -- of global efforts, slavery can still be found not just on the high seas, but around the world and throughout various supply chains. Through this series on forced labor, sponsored by C&A Foundation, we’ll explore many different types of bonded and forced labor and highlight industries where this practice is alive and well today.

In this series we examine how companies should respond to national controversy like police violence and the BLM movement to best support employees and how can companies work to improve equality by increasing diversity in their ranks directly.

Compost is often considered a panacea for the United States’ tremendous food waste problem. Indeed, composting is a much better option than putting spoiled food in a garbage can destined for a landfill.

It is not difficult finding conferences and one-off events that serve to link venture capital to clean technology firms. While the halcyon days of the 1990s dot-com era will never return, there are angel investors and VC firms that will invest in smart grid, renewable energy, and water efficiency if the opportunity appears solid.

Now sustainable agriculture is gaining more investors’ attention. One firm paving the way is NewSeed Advisors, based in New York City. Its Managing Director, Janine Yorio, a former investment banker at Salomon Brothers, NewSeed is organizing conferences that will link financiers to those in the agricultural and food production sectors, with the goal to yield both a positive impact on the planet while gaining returns for the investment community.

The NewSeed team has been on quite a journey. Kate Westfall, the firm’s Managing Director of Marketing & Events, has a past life as the Director of Operations for the International Federation of Competitive Eating, where she produced the famous July 4th Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest. Since then she completed a master’s in Food Culture and Communications at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy (famous of course for its parmesan cheese and prosciutto). As Kate explained in our interview:

The transition from speed eating to slow food came very naturally to me. Food is culture, and I happened to be singularly steeped in American food culture. I needed to see how the rest of the world was benefitting from (and being corrupted by) exposure to our pattern of consumption.

Another team member is Anjali Oberoi, an MBA graduate with a background in management consulting who followed her love for chocolate from scouting the best sources in New York City to volunteering at cacao plantations and organic farms in Latin America.

The team has organized a series of events, Agriculture 2.0, that will address such pressures as population growth, the westernization of diets, and the increase in biofuel production. In New York on September 14, entrepreneurs and industry leaders will discuss the most promising ideas and companies that will benefit from the global demand for organic and sustainably produced food and related products from around the world.

Westfall and Oberoi explained that the transition to a more sustainable future can only happen with the cooperation and support of the large corporations that have been major players in the agriculture and food business for decades. This transition won’t come easily; it must be ushered in not just by small non-profits and activists, but also by industry leaders.

Executives who will speak at the New York Agriculture 2.0 conference include Ernesto Brovelli, the Senior Manager of Sustainable Agriculture in the Environment and Water Resources Department at The Coca-Cola Company. He is also on the executive committee of the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform, and works on developing a sustainable sourcing strategy for Coke. Another speaker will be Don Borgman from John Deere, which is developing precision agriculture technology along with wind turbines used to generate clean, renewable energy.

NewSeed believes that a ground-up/top-down strategy is the most sure-fire way to move sustainable agriculture in a positive way. Future events will be held in Toronto in October and Silicon Valley in March 2011.

5 responses

Very impressive mission and development of strategies to address an issue of global proportions. Too much time is spent rueing and complaining and blaming large corporations for perceived wrongs or greed, or “the wealthy”, governments large and small, and yes, investors. It is the simplistic response of which I have sometimes been guilty. Mine is usually a response to feeling helpless to change anything in the larger context and is an ill-informed and easy way to not take responsibility. Good deeds alone cannot accomplish major changes. You are pursuing, with credentials and commitment, a vision for the future, a collaboration which sounds practical, ethical, of benefit to investors, companies and our planet, and one upon which our very survival depends. Kudos.

Thanks for the comment. Rona, I think your comments are spot on–it’s just a cop-out to “blame the corporations.” Thought leaders like those at NewSeed are the ones who make a difference. Please keep coming back!!! :) LK

Hello, its so great to see there are people who are concerned with the healthier food and the earth. I’m seeking funding to develop a Hydroponics farm. If you are interested in funding us or know of someone who is able to fund such a project. Please email me. Thanks mark